The APS is saddened to announce the passing of former APS President Randy L. Neil. The following remembrance of Randy and his incredible impact on the hobby was written by APS Director of Expertizing, Ken Martin.

Randy L. Neil, APS president from 1993-1997, passed away March 6, 2024. For Christmas in 1951, Randy received an Ideal Stamp Collecting Kit from his parents, but it was quickly put aside in favor of a new bike. Six months later, Randy’s mother made it her own. Randy was horrified and a bit jealous that his mom was having so much fun with his stamp collecting kit.

Eventually he confronted his mother who said he had had six months to use it and she decided not to waste it. Randy went to his dad and asked if he would get him a new stamp collecting kit. His dad relented and the rest is history. 

Randy began his active involvement in organized stamp collecting by entering his exhibit of hand-drawn cacheted first day covers in an Olathe, Kansas stamp show. His covers were mounted directly on to a 32" x 48" poster board with descriptive writeups executed with pen and India ink. Randy was the only entrant in the youth 14 and over section and won first place, for which he received a circular blue sticker with the words “FIRST PLACE.”

A little over a month later, he exhibited again at the Kansas City biennial national stamp show. His first day covers were now mounted on Minkus blank pages, and this time received a Second Place ribbon.

For the 1956 Fifth International Philatelic Exhibition (FIPEX) in New York, Randy entered a one-page exhibit on the 7-cent Liberty Series Woodrow Wilson stamp. Thomas Alexander, Creighton Hart, and David T. Beals, all future APS Luff Award winners who frequented the same downtown Kansas City stamp shop where Randy hung out on Saturdays, helped him with this exhibit.                                     

To Randy’s surprise, at the age of 14, his mom and dad sent him by himself on a train to New York City for the show, where he stayed with cousins who lived in Greenwich Village. During the show, he walked up to a dealer’s booth and asked about a stamp. The dealer quickly responded “beat it!” Randy wrote about this in a letter to Weekly Philatelic Gossip, which editor Harry Weiss printed under the headline “A Junior Views Stamp Collecting” (1956, p. 412). The letter initiated a column of that name which Randy wrote. In one of these columns, he announced the formation of the American Junior Philatelic Society. That same year, 1957, he also began a juniors column in First Days, journal of the American First Day Cover Society.

Randy founded the Collectors Club of Kansas City in 1971 and the MIDAPHIL Kansas City national stamp show in 1972.

Randy became an APS member in 1970, and in 1985 was elected to the Society’s board of directors as a director-at-large. He served fourteen years on the board, including two years as secretary from 1989-1991, and was twice elected president, in 1993 and 1995. Among his important actions was the creation of the Society Tiffany Endowment Fund.

In 1986, Randy co-founded and served as first president of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. He authored The Philatelic Exhibitors Handbook, a philatelic best-seller which has gone through several editions. A lifelong philatelic exhibitor, his exhibits of 19th century U.S., Great Britain, Confederate States of America, and 1938 Prexie postal history won more than 50 gold medals and ten grand awards. He and John Hotchner also conceived and developed the single-frame and display exhibiting classes.

For ten years, Randy wrote a column on “Exhibits and Exhibitions” for The American Philatelist.  Randy also served as a columnist for The Philatelic Exhibitor, Linn’s Stamp News, and Stamp Collector. In 1992, he founded and published U.S. Stamps & Postal History Magazine, which continues to this day as U.S. Stamp News. In 2006, he founded, designed, and edited The American Stamp Dealer and Collector. He followed this up with founding and editing Kelleher’s Collectors Connection. 

Randy served as editor of The Confederate Philatelist from 2008-13, authored The U.S. Trans-Mississippi Issue of 1898 published in 1997, wrote on "The Special Printing of the Two-Cent Red Brown Issue of 1883-85" for the 1987 American Philatelic Congress book, and was a feature writer for Stamps magazine.

Randy belonged to over 20 local national and international philatelic organizations.

Among his many honors are Distinguished Philatelist of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society (1999), the Elizabeth C. Pope award for contributions to philately (2005), the John N. Luff award (2000) for outstanding service to the APS, the Writers Unit Hall of Fame (2000), and the Charles J. Peterson philatelic literature life achievement award (2017). In 2021, Randy's name was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists, though he was never able to sign the roll personally. In 2023, Randy was recognized by The Collectors Club with the prestigious Alfred F. Lichtenstein memorial award for distinguished service to philately. The Collectors Club will honor Randy posthumously at the awards gala in May. 

Randy’s philatelic activity was overwhelming, but he was also very successful with his vocation. Randy graduated from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas and went to work as a reporter for United Press International right out of college. In 1963, he joined the staff of the Kansas City Chiefs who had just moved to KC from Dallas. He started their cheerleading program and, in 1965, he founded the International Cheerleading Foundation and served as its CEO for 30 years. 

Randy wrote a textbook on cheerleading (The Official Cheerleaders Handbook, 1979) which reached The New York Times Best Seller List. He produced four CBS television specials from 1978-1981, was founder and first president of the National Film Society, and founder and publisher of American Classic Screen.

In 1995, Randy left his career as “the oldest cheerleader in America” to work for well-known philatelist Andrew Levitt. After a year with Levitt, Randy returned to Kansas and established Neil Creative Media which served more than 50 clients in the U.S. and other countries.

Few will ever match Randy’s cheerleading for our hobby and he will be greatly missed by many.

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